In Another Life
by thespine
Summary: What if Esme was no longer in Carlisle's life? What if Bella was not Edward's La Tua Cantante? Dun dun dun! So I guess you would consider this AU. Eventual Bella/Carlisle. Currently on hiatus.
1. Prologue

**Okay so I am not a die-hard Twilight fan, but I just thought of this & decided to write it down, because I can. Please don't be too judgmental.

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Prologue

Carlisle sat in his office in the overly huge house, staring at a picture of the perfection that was Esme. He took in her perfect features: her hair, those passionate eyes, but mostly, her beautiful , caring smile. She had the most loving smile in all of history, human, vampire, or any other unknown supernatural being. It had been fifty years to the day since Esme had died. Actually, _murdered _was a more appropriate term. It was tragic. Had it not been for the fact that he had a family to look after, to protect, he would have demanded that the Volturi take him too.

Carlisle's vampire memory wouldn't allow him to forget any of the details. He remembered that heart wrenching day all too well.

_Carlisle and Esme ran through the forests, just outside of Volterra. They ran freely for now, knowing that there were no humans that would discover them by their inhuman speed or the rainbows they threw in the sunlight. _

_They were here for a visit with Aro. Quite honestly, Carlisle would have rather not traveled to Volterra, but Aro had insisted, saying that it had been far too long, not to mention that he wanted to see Carlisle's new mate. Carlisle supposed that it _had_ been almost a whole century since he had been in Italy, but that had in fact been for a reason, and he would have just as well stayed away from Volterra for the rest of his existence. He was also unsure as to whether bringing Esme would be a wise decision. She had only been a vampire for a year, still a newborn, and therefore hadn't had much contact with humans. Carlisle feared that she would lose control once she was in such close proximity to the blood running through the humans' veins. However, he knew that if he didn't travel to Volterra, Aro would just come to Forks, so reluctantly, he agreed to Aro's request for a visit. _

_Carlisle and Esme were soon at the edge of the forest, so they slowed to a human pace and pulled the hoods from the black cloaks over their heads. Esme looked a bit nervous, so Carlisle gave her a reassuring smile and leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips. _

"_Everything will be fine, love," Carlisle consoled her. Esme smiled her incredible smile. It was not like the ones that reached her eyes, conveying happiness, but still it lit up the whole world, or at least Carlisle's world. With that, Carlisle took her hand, and they both proceeded into the city._

_They had reached the clock tower when Esme suddenly stiffened._

_Carlisle took both her shoulders in his hands and looked into her eyes, which had suddenly dilated, so much so that almost her entire iris looked black. Only a small portion was a glowing tangerine color, not quite gold yet since she was still young. "Esme, darling, what's wrong."_

"_Carlisle," she said in a terrified voice, "Carlisle, it's the most appealing thing I've ever smelled. It feels as if someone's poured molten lava down my throat. I need to taste their blood! I need to taste their blood _now!_" Her voice was desperate, yet it was commanding, much out of character for her._

_Horror struck Carlisle as he understood what was happening to her. She had found her La Tua Cantante, the person's blood that sang to her, that called to her. To say that this was a catastrophe was a huge understatement; to be in the middle of Volterra with the law enforcement so close, there would be major consequences if she couldn't contain herself. Carlisle tightened his grip on Esme's shoulders in an attempt to keep her rooted to the ground. _

_The wind shifted, and with it, Esme. The breeze was light, but it was enough to make her go mad. It blew the smell of that wonderful human in her direction, making it ten times more potent, a hundred times more tempting. She suddenly hissed, baring her teeth. She pushed Carlisle away with more force than was imaginable. Carlisle might have been able to overpower anyone else, but since Esme was a newborn, she was still incredibly strong, much stronger than the over-200-year-old vampire who had not had human blood in his body since his change. _

_The force caused the hood on Carlisle's cloak to fall off his head. No one noticed the man that had been thrown into the shadows, however, for all they had eyes for was the creature that was sparkling like sunlight reflected off of pure white snow. Esme was fully exposed to the sun's rays. She shined brighter than any jewel, causing the surrounding ignorant humans to back away. They had never seen anything like this, and it frightened them beyond belief. Her appearance was bad enough, but Carlisle knew what was coming next. Esme had found the source of her eminent downfall. Carlisle would have tried to stop her but knew that he would never be able to get there in time. Only a couple of seconds passed before Esme sank her razor sharp teeth into the innocent teenager's neck. He cried out in agony, begging to die quickly. He had never felt so much pain in all his short life. This boy that couldn't be more than seventeen years old could not fathom what he had done to deserve such a punishment. Why him? _

_All was silent when the body finally dropped to the ground, drained of every last drop of blood. Everyone stared in disgusted horror, not knowing what kind of monster would cause someone so much torture. Some ran away; some just stood there, not remembering the motions required to walk, let alone run. _

_Esme stood over the boy, terror on her face when she realized what she had done. She couldn't believe how she could do that to such an innocent, unsuspecting child. Not only that, but she had violently pushed away the man she loved in order to do so. She turned to look back at Carlisle, trying to express all her emotions. Her eyes were apologetic, yet filled with fear. _

_There were no more humans around anymore. They had all retreated to their homes in fear that they might be the monster's next victim. _

_The humans were soon replaced with four other vampires, Aro's guards. Carlisle knew this was coming. He tried desperately to think of a way to help Esme escape this fate. Carlisle had lived with Aro long enough that he knew the odds of the latter letting Esme live was almost nothing. She had exposed the secret of vampires to over fifty humans. She was a risk now and could not be trusted. _

_One of the guards spoke, "Aro wants to speak with both of you." His voice was low and ominous._

_Carlisle reached for Esme's hand and looked into her eyes. They were a deep red now, the result of drinking human blood, rather than animal blood. He tried to giver her a comforting smile, but knew that it was not successful. He feared her doom awaited her in only a few minutes. _

_Two of the guards started forward, leading the way into the huge castle-like building. The two others, the more masculine ones, followed behind Carlisle and Esme, ensuring that they would not be able to escape. _

_It seemed like they were facing Aro within only a few seconds, but they knew it must have been longer, for they were walking at human speed, and Aro's thrown room was deep within the castle. _

"_This is not how I expected to greet the two of you today," Aro said in a smooth voice. He stood and walked to Esme to more closely examine her. "So you are Carlisle's mate. It is a shame that I will have to waste such beauty."_

_Carlisle took a step closer to plead with Aro. "Please, old friend," he said, trying to make the ancient vampire feel like he owed him. "Spare my love," he said simultaneously placing a hand on Esme's cheek and looking her in the eyes, pure love reflecting in them. _

"_I am sorry, Carlisle. I cannot," he did not sound apologetic in the slightest, simply uncaring. _

"_Aro, I beg you. Do not take her away from me," he waited awhile, but when he saw that Aro would not cave to sympathy, he tried to explain Esme's case. "It was not her fault. She could not control herself, not with her La Tua Cantante so close," he looked deep into Aro's eyes, willing him to comply. "You have only to touch her to see that she is truly regretful." _

_Aro would not listen to reason. "She is a liability to us. If she did this once, she will do it again." He gave one of his minions a look. The latter nodded in understanding, and was at Aro's side in an instant. _

_Esme looked terrified, and she cried without tears. "Please," she begged, "No. I do not want to leave Carlisle." If Carlisle would have had a beating heart, it would have broken, shattered into unrecognizable shards._ _His pain was soon accompanied by fury. He felt rage for Aro readily willing to kill the woman he loved. He wanted to tear him apart, and smell the too sweet scent as he burned. Carlisle lunged for the tyrant, but another guard restrained him. Even his anger could not make him strong enough to overtake the guard that feasted on human blood daily. _

_The man standing next to Aro reached for the trembling Esme. _

"_NO!" Carlisle screamed. But it was already too late. _

Carlisle was brought back to reality by the sound of his office door being opened.

"Hello, Alice," he said as he put the picture of Esme facedown on the desk. "What do you need?" Even though it was the anniversary of his wife's death, he still sounded his usual kind self.

"Nothing. I thought you might need some consoling today," Alice in a sad voice. She was sitting on Carlisle's desk holding Esme's picture frame in a fraction of a second.

Carlisle looked up at her pixie-like face and smiled. "Thank you, Alice."

"I wished I could have met her. She seemed so loving in my visions," A look of guilt passed her face, and it was obvious that she put part of the blame on herself for not seeing Esme's death.

Carlisle placed a hand on one of Alice's tiny ones. It was only half the size of his own. "Alice, you must know that I don't blame you for Esme's death. You hadn't even met her when we went to Italy."

"I know. But I should have seen it," she said in a small voice.

He gave her hand a squeeze. "This is not your fault. Try to cheer up. Esme wouldn't want you to be sad, especially on her account."

Alice tried to smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, Carlisle. I came here to comfort you, not the other way around."

Carlisle chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Go enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be fine." She looked at him for a moment before she jumped up from the desk and leaned down to give Carlisle a hug. He smiled and wrapped his arms around his newest daughter.

"You _will _meet someone, you know," she whispered in his ear. Carlisle's expression changed to a look of surprise, not expecting this from her. He thought about this and couldn't imagine the emptiness where his unbeating heart was, being filled again. As if reading his mind she continued, "And she will be your heart."

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**Please tell me what you think. I would love to hear your reviews. Unless you just totally hate it. I think I'm too sensitive for that. But _constructive _criticism would be nice. **


	2. First Sight

**Sorry it has been so long since the Prologue, but I've been quite busy with my senior year. And I completely rewrote the first chapter three times. Third time's the charm! I know that I said it was going to be Bella/Carlisle, and it still is, but you have to be patient. =] It will come soon enough. And I did take a lot of this chapter from the actual novel, so if it seems a bit familiar, that's why. (Btdub, that was my disclaimer) But enough of my rambling, here's the first actual chapter!**

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First Sight

_It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them. _

Sitting in a corner, as far away as they could get from this table in this cramped cafeteria were the five most beautiful people I had ever set eyes upon. They didn't look anything alike, yet they all looked exactly the same. The similarities in the paleness of their skin, the piercing black of their irises, and the dark purple bruises under their eyes brought them together in resemblance. But each individual was completely different from the other. One of the three boys had dark curly locks, the most adorable dimples, and could have been the poster boy for Brawny paper towels. He was huge and made the other two look tiny in comparison, though they weren't exactly scrawny either. The one that looked to be second oldest had honey blonde hair and was taller and leaner than the last boy, who had bronze colored hair that looked like it was permanently disheveled.

The two girls were complete opposites; literally day and night. There was a tall blonde one; she had the body of a supermodel that any girl would kill for. She was devastatingly gorgeous. The last girl had short dark hair that stuck out in every direction. Everything about her was small; the first word that came to mind when I saw her was "pixie." As she danced over to the trash can to throw away her uneaten tray of food, it seemed as if she would sprout a pair of wings and just fly there.

I paused in my reveling of their beauty to ask Jessica, "Who are _they_?"

She looked to where my gaze was. As soon as she did, the youngest of the boys looked our way, as if someone had called his name. "Oh," she said looking at me now. "Those are the Cullens. Actually, just the big one, Emmett; the youngest boy, Edward; and the short girl, Alice are Cullens. The other two are Rosalie and Jasper Hale, but they all live together with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen," then she got a mischievous grin and continued, "It causes a little bit of gossip around here because they're all _together._ Emmet and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice," she said looking expectantly for my response.

Actually, even in Phoenix, if something like this were to happen, it would make the old ladies talk. "Wow," I said simply. There was a slight pause. "They are all really…attractive." I wasn't sure what word would appropriately describe them.

"Yeah no kidding," she said agreeing to my huge understatement. "My eyes melted when I saw them for the first time, especially Edward. Ya know?…Actually, they still do. Every time…" She sighed longingly.

"Riiight," I said at her odd statement. Forks had some weird expressions. "So are they all adopted? They don't look related."

"Yeah, I don't think Mrs. Cullen can have kids, so she took them in when they were, like, eight or something."

"That's nice of them," I trailed off as the clanging of bells signified the end of lunch.

I took one last look at them before leaving and noticed the youngest boy was staring at me. He had a curious look on his face. Like he was expecting something, but it wasn't happening. I felt myself flush, and looked away, partly to hide my scarlet cheeks and partly because I really did have to get to class. As I walked away, one of the girls from the lunch table, Angela, caught up to me and told me she had Biology II with me next hour, so we walked to class together. We didn't say much; she's shy like me.

As soon as we got in the door, she gave me a friendly smile and turned to sit at one of the black topped tables. Every seat was taken except one: the one right next to Edward Cullen. _Ha! Figures._ I got my books from Mr. Banner and headed to sit next to Edward. He was staring at me with the same expression he had at lunch, and his eyes followed me until I was sitting right next to him. I turned shyly to meet his gaze.

"Hello," I said, trying to make it less awkward.

"Hello," he said coming out of his trance. Seeming to find his manners he suddenly introduced himself, "I'm Edward Cullen."

Of course I already knew this, but I didn't want him to know that. "Edward," I said in acknowledgement. "I'm Bella—"

He said my name at the exact moment I did and finished for me, "Swan," he seemed to understand my confusion at how he knew who I was. "The whole town has been awaiting your arrival," he explained.

"You called me Bella though," I said.

"Oh, do you prefer Isabella?" he asked. Now it was his turn to be confused.

"No, it's just… Everybody I met today called me Isabella, and I've had to correct them. I think Charlie must have been calling me Isabella behind my back or something. So how did you know how to call me Bella?"

He paused for the briefest of seconds. "Oh, I have my ways." He gave a lopsided smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.

The sound of Mr. Banner's voice pulled us back into Biology. "Today you will be identifying the stages of Mitosis of an onion root, and for convenience, you'll be lab partners with your desk buddy. No text books allowed." Well this would be easy. I had already done this lab back in Phoenix.

Edward looked into the first slide for about half a second and said, "Prophase." He swiftly replaced the Prophase slide with another and let me take the next one. I knew what I was looking for, so it only took me a few seconds to identify it, a little longer than it had taken Edward, but it was still fairly impressive.

"Anaphase," I said confidently.

Apparently he didn't think confidence was good enough because he asked if he could double check.

"It seems you're right," he said smiling that same crooked smile.

"Don't act so surprised. You're not the only one with brains in this group," then I started to feel guilty and confessed. "Actually I've done this lab before…" I looked down ashamed.

The sound of musical chuckling made me look up at Edward. "Don't look so abashed, so have I," he said.

"Oh, ok. I guess that makes us both cheaters," I said grinning.

"No," he pretended to think. "I think that just makes us…experienced," he finished.

We completed our lab far before any of our classmates were even done with the first slide.

Mr. Banner must have noticed we weren't working because he came to our table to ask us if we had finished.

Edward answered him, "Yes, Mr. Banner, we've been done for about 4 minutes and 36 seconds." Both Mr. Banner and I looked incredulously at him. How could he possibly know the exact amount of time we had been done? "Give or take," he said seeing our skeptical glances.

Mr. Banner must have thought he was making a joke because he let out a small chortle. "Well Mr. Cullen, you could have at least let your partner look at some of the slides."

"Actually, sir, Bella identified three of the five," Edward corrected.

"Oh. Good job Miss Swan," he said and walked away.

The bell rang, and Edward asked what class I had next.

"Gym, unfortunately," I said.

"Why unfortunately?" he inquired.

"I'm not the most coordinated person in the world. And that's an understatement." I said. "So me and sports don't mix very well."

"Ah, I see," he said, realization donning his features. "Well do you need help finding the gym?" he asked.

"No, I think I can find it, but thanks anyway."

"Ok. I'll see you later then," he said as we walked out the door.

We were stopped short, however, by one of his siblings, Alice.

"Hi," she said in an angel's voice. For a tiny girl, she had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm Alice," she said. She reminded me of a puppy waiting for someone to pet her. "And you're Bella. We're going to be best friends, I can already tell," excitement dripped from each word.

"Alice," Edward stopped her. "I think you're scaring her." Then they exchanged looks and Edward got a strange look on his face, maybe confusion, wonder, perhaps a little apprehension.

"Bella, we'll um, see you tomorrow," he sounded a bit distracted.

"Yeah see ya—" but they were already gone.

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**I hope you liked it and pray it wasn't a disappointment after the long wait. I love every one of your reviews! They make my day just a little bit brighter. =D **


	3. Open Book

**I really am sorry for the slow updates. I get distracted easily. **

**Disclaimer: If a story is on Fan-Fiction, does that mean you own it? Uh, let me think NO. Come on people, use your brains =P**

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Edward and Alice ran from the school building, not really caring if Bella saw. She would probably write it off as first-day-of-school nerves getting to her or something. And even if she didn't, it seemed like she would be getting pretty close with the Cullen family anyway, if Alice's vision was anything to judge by.

It had been snowing, so the parking lot was rather icy, but that didn't slow down or impair the two vampires' speed. They both made it to Edward's Volvo, which stood out dramatically from all the other vehicles.

Edward quickly grabbed Alice's shoulders, "Alice, when did you see this?"

Alice still didn't see where Edward's concern was coming from; she was thrilled with what she saw. "I don't know why you're so worried, Edward."

"You didn't answer my question," he said taking his arms away and crossing them across his chest.

Alice let out a sigh of submission and slight annoyance, simultaneously rolling her eyes, a human habit she had grown accustomed to. "I had the vision when I first met Carlisle."

Edward looked shocked and slightly angry, "You knew all this time, and you didn't say anything?"

"There was no need until today," she reasoned.

Edward sighed, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Did you tell Carlisle about it?"

"I might have hinted at it," she said mischievously.

"What exactly did you say?" he asked, suspicion evident in his tone.

"I just told him he would find someone," and then she thought of the time she had comforted Carlisle back on the anniversary of Esme's death so that Edward could simply read her thoughts.

"_Hello, Alice," he said as he put the picture of Esme facedown on the desk. "What do you need?" Even though it was the anniversary of his wife's death, he still sounded his usual kind self. _

"_Nothing. I thought you might need some consoling today," Alice in a sad voice. She was sitting on Carlisle's desk holding Esme's picture frame in a fraction of a second. _

_Carlisle looked up at her pixie-like face and smiled. "Thank you, Alice."_

"_I wished I could have met her. She seemed so loving in my visions," A look of guilt passed her face, and it was obvious that she put part of the blame on herself for not seeing Esme's death._

_Carlisle placed a hand on one of Alice's tiny ones. It was only half the size of his own. "Alice, you must know that I don't blame you for Esme's death. You hadn't even met her when we went to Italy."_

"_I know. But I should have seen it," she said in a small voice. _

_He gave her hand a squeeze. "This is not your fault. Try to cheer up. Esme wouldn't want you to be sad, especially on her account." _

_Alice tried to smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, Carlisle. I came here to comfort you, not the other way around."_

_Carlisle chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Go enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be fine." She looked at him for a moment before she jumped up from the desk and leaned down to give Carlisle a hug. He smiled and wrapped his arms around his newest daughter. _

"_You will meet someone, you know," she whispered in his ear. Carlisle's expression changed to a look of surprise, not expecting this from her. He thought about this and couldn't imagine the emptiness where his unbeating heart was, being filled again. As if reading his mind she continued, "And she will be your heart."_

_Alice stepped away from her foster father and smiled before exiting the room a second later, but not before she saw a look of confusion flash across Carlisle's face._

"I don't think he thought anything of it," she continued. "He most likely thought they were simply words of encouragement."

"Yes," Edward agreed, "It seems that way. Well, I'm sure he'll find out soon enough for himself anyway."

"Exactly," Alice said with more excitement. "Don't want to spoil the surprise of it all, now do we?" she smirked.

Edward tried to suppress the urge to laugh, but at the sight of his favorite sister's excitement, he couldn't help himself. A slight smile spread across his face while a small chuckle escaped his lips. It was typical Alice to make him laugh, even when he was tense like this.

"No, Alice, I guess we wouldn't," he said shaking his head in mock disapproval.

With only twenty more minutes left until the school day came to a close, they both decided it would be pointless to walk into the last period tardy. They knew everything better than the professors themselves anyway. They had heard the lessons dozens of times. It was nothing new. Thus, they waited for the school bell to ring so they could leave with their other siblings.

But when it did in fact ring, to their surprise, it was not the other Cullens who walked out first; it was Bella Swan. She had a determined look about her, eyebrows furrowed, lips pressed into a straight line, and she was heading directly to the shiny Volvo and its owner.

Edward glanced toward his sister, "Alice, I think we may have a bit of trouble," and nodded ever so slightly toward the girl walking toward them.

Alice gave her attention to the girl struggling to keep her balance on the slippery ice. "Don't be silly. Bella's harmless."

"That's obviously not what I meant," he said looking pointedly at her.

Once Bella had finally made her way over to Edward and Alice she seemed to feel that since she was no longer moving, and there was a slimmer chance she could fall, she could take her eyes off her feet. Her eyes now alternated between Edward's then Alice's eyes before she said, "You guys make a _really _quick exit."

"Well hello to you too, Bella," Alice said with a _slightly_ tamer smile than she had had on her face outside Mr. Banner's Room.

Edward thought Alice seemed far too calm with this situation. He decided to take the more defensive route. "Bella, I don't know what you're talking about," he knew it sounded like something someone would say who knew _exactly _what she was talking about, but hoped that _she _didn't think so.

But to no avail. Bell narrowed her eyes at him, "Right. So would you care to explain to me how one moment, I was standing with _two_ _people_ outside Mr. Banner's room, then a second later and I'm all by myself in a deserted hallway?"

Well it looked like this was going to come out a lot sooner than either of the siblings had thought. Edward turned to face his sister with a concerned frown gracing his features, while Alice turned to him with the complete opposite expression. In Edward's head, he could hear the familiar voice of Alice, _Edward, she is going to find out eventually. You know that. _He scowled in disapproval. He still didn't think this was a good idea, despite Alice's enthusiasm. To appease Bella, however, he knew he had to give her some kind of answer, even if it wasn't complete. He reluctantly turned to look her in the eye.

"Bella," he started, unsure of what he was going to say next. "We would love to explain, but now is really not the time or the place."

Bella cocked an eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something, but the voice that spoke next did not belong to her.

"Edward! Alice! Who's your new friend?" Emmett said in his boomy voice, with the ever-present smile in his tone. Though Edward and Alice were completely un-phased by this, Bella jumped in surprise, caught off guard. This inevitably led to her stumbling on a stray patch of ice and nearly falling over. Had it not been for Emmett standing right behind her, she would have taken a pretty nasty fall. He nimbly caught Bella and placed her back on her feet.

"Careful there," Emmett said through a slight chuckle.

A deep red blush creeped up Bella's neck to her cheeks. "Uh," she began to say something, but as with all humans, she was a bit stunned by the beauty of the creatures in front of her. Apparently, she had gotten used to it with Edward, but Emmett really was an intimidating figure. Add two more vampires on either side of him and there isn't much a human can do. The presence of vampires tended to slow the ability to think, let alone speak. "Uh, thanks," she seemed to slip out of her trance. "For saving me from even further humiliation."

"The pleasure was all mine," he said and winked while giving her his signature dimple-cheeked smile.

If it was possible, her face became an even deeper shade of red. She let out a nervous chuckle, "Well, I guess I'll, uh, just be going then," she started backing up, then turned around to head towards a beat up, red Chevy truck. She seemed to have forgotten that she had been interrogating Edward and Alice only a few moments ago.

Edward let out a sigh of relief. "I owe you one, Emmett."

"Why's that, bro?" he said while getting into the back seat of the Volvo.

All the other siblings followed suit, and Edward swiftly turned the key in the ignition. "Because, you just saved me from having to tell a human that everything she thought was a myth is soon going to become her life."

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**Please tell me what you think. Oh, and by the way, thank you everyone who reviewed on my previous chapters! You guys are the light of my life. ;D Thank you for all of the Alerts/Favorites too! Love you! Aaaand REVIEW! Please...**


	4. Paranoid

**Okay, I am having some SERIOUS writer's block. I wrote the first two paragraphs of this and couldn't decide where to take it next. Oh, and I am making the chapter titles correspond with the chapter titles in the book, except for this chapter, because some things in it don't happen in the book, and there wasn't a title that fit. **

**Disclaimer: Um, of course I own Twilight. What would make you think I didn't? Would it be the fact that I am not rich, not in my mid-thirties, not married, oh and my name isn't STEPHENIE MEYER? Oh…yeah…I guess that's a pretty good assumption then…**

With a few stumbles along the way, I got back to my truck and turned it on. With a roar it started up and the heater promptly shot out cold air, not having time to warm up yet. All I could think about was how idiotic I had made myself look in front of the five beautiful people. And how Emmett had winked at me. Not that I really liked him or anything, but I mean, come on. How is a girl supposed to react when one of the most beautiful men you've ever had the privilege to set your eyes on winks at you? Pondering on this I tried to remember why I was even surrounded by that particular group anyway.

_Oh shoot. I was trying to get to the bottom of whatever had happened outside of Mr. Banner's room. _As I remembered this I saw the silver Volvo leave the parking lot. _Looks like I won't be getting any answers today. _

I was fuming the whole way home, thinking of how I could let some beautiful—that was the only word for him—man distract me from the issue at hand. It was absurd; I hadn't acted that way around Edward, so why was I a complete lunatic around his brother? A sharp sigh of frustration escaped from my lips. It was probably just the circumstances. Edward hadn't gone and _winked at me. _Next time, I wouldn't let his charming smile obstruct my focus.

In what seemed like no time at all, I had reached my house. I turned off the engine and realized that my hands were aching from gripping the wheel so tightly. I flexed my fingers and silently cursed Emmett.

Once I successfully made it inside without, miraculously, slipping on any ice, I started to make dinner for Charlie and myself. Looking in the fridge, I saw there wasn't that much to work with. Grocery shopping was going to be at the top of my to-do list. I eventually found some mixed peas and carrots, some chopped potatoes, pie crusts, and left over chicken; chicken pot pie it was. It was monotonous work, a meal that I had made a hundred times before while I was living in Arizona, so it left plenty of time for my thoughts to run free.

I thought about what I had seen back at school. I am not what you would call a superstitious person. I led a completely normal, ordinary, most of the time boring life. So the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. It couldn't have possibly happened; it defied laws of nature and science and_ reason_. My mind _must _have been playing tricks on me. I probably just looked away for longer than I had thought. What other possibility was there? That's the only scenario that made sense.

Unless…No, but that couldn't be it. Now I was just being paranoid. But then again, I had just watched an episode of _Grey's Anatomy _where something like this happened: someone was hallucinating due to a tumor. They walked into the hospital claiming some absurd story as truth, but then they got an MRI, and it had shown that they had a brain tumor. _Holy Crow. That could be exactly what's happening to me. _Now I was starting to panic. I didn't want to end up like the person on _Grey's Anatomy. _Dead because they had waited too long to get checked out. I could be saved if they caught it early enough. At least I hoped I could.

After putting foil over the pot pie and hastily sliding it in the fridge, I scrawled a messy note to Charlie so he wouldn't worry:

_Char__Dad, _

_I made you some pot pie. It's in the fridge. I hope you like it. Sorry I couldn't stay to eat with you. I just have to get something checked out. Don't worry about it, I'll tell you more later. Love you. _

_Bella_

I grabbed my coat while running to the door. Outside I had to be more careful because of the ice. Plus I didn't want to make my tumor worse by bumping my head and giving myself a concussion, so my run morphed into a clumsy, brisk walk.

Successfully making it to my truck, I started driving to Forks General Hospital. I really hoped I didn't pass out while I was driving.

.::.::.::.::.::.

"Isabella Swan?" a young nurse clad in white scrubs called. She had medium length blonde hair that was currently pulled into a ponytail and was pretty in a very obvious way.

"Yes, that's me," I said as I stood.

Seeing who this Isabella Swan was, she stopped scanning the room and smiled. "My name is Jackie. Please follow me."We walked down a fairly long corridor and then into a small room with one of those bed/chair type things with the tissue paper on it. "You can have a seat and the doctor will be right with you."

"Okay thanks," I said as I gave her a tight-lipped smile. I waited until she left to clamber up on the chair. I always thought it was really embarrassing attempting to climb on them without making it sound like you had just sat on bubble wrap.

After a while I started to get antsy, so as a nervous habit, I started popping my fingers, elbows, wrists. I had done it for as long as I could remember. I started to look around the room I was in. The walls were covered in plaques. They were for numerous awards, some for just Forks General Hospital and some were for just one person: Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I started to wonder if Dr. Cullen would be _my_ doctor. Then I started to wonder what this Carlisle Cullen looked like. If he was anything like his family, he would inevitably be handsome.

Just as I was thinking that last thought I heard the doorknob turn, and someone stepped in. He had wavy, light blonde hair, and his skin was white as a sheet. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he was tired. Despite the fact that he looked like he hadn't slept in a century, he was still gorgeous. I couldn't have made a bigger understatement about him being handsome. He was so far beyond handsome, it was utterly unbelievable. I knew that this had to be Carlisle Cullen.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Cullen," he said, confirming my assumption. "You must be Miss Isabella Swan." His voice was alluring, almost seductive, without even trying. He looked at me expectantly, and I suddenly realized that I had been staring, mouth slightly agape.

Quickly shutting my mouth and giving myself a mental shake I finally responded, "Yes. Yeah. I'm Isabella. Bella, actually." I sounded like a complete idiot.

He smiled regardless of my stupidity. "Well Bella, why are you here?"

I frowned, "Am I not supposed to be in this room? The nurse, Jackie I think her name was, she led me in here. I'm sorry—" I started to move to get out of the chair.

"Bella, Bella," he said through a chuckle, placing a hand on my shoulder to keep me in place. "That's not what I meant. Sorry, I should have phrased it better. What I meant was, why are you in Forks Gen? Not this specific room." I felt the blush creep up to my cheeks. Whether this was due to the fact that I had misinterpreted his words or that his hand was still on my shoulder, I didn't really know.

"Oh, right," I smiled, and he finally removed his hand. "Um, well, I saw a ridiculous, for lack of a better word, event happen today, and at first, I thought my eyes had played tricks on me, but then I thought of this thing I saw on TV where a girl had a brain tumor and it made her hallucinate, and so then I thought I might have been hallucinating because of a tumor, and so as soon as I thought about it, I drove over here so that if I did have a tumor, you guys could catch it in time, and I wouldn't die." I said all of this in one breath, making it a single sentence.

"Well that seems like quite the predicament. Do you want to tell me what you saw?"

Obviously, I was hesitant to tell him for a couple of reasons. One, it would have made me seem crazy. Two, the "hallucination" featured his adopted children. "You're going to think I'm insane."

"I'm sure I've heard worse."

I sighed. This was it; the moment where he would tell me I definitely had a brain tumor, and I would have to undergo major surgery to have it removed and there was a 60% chance of survival. "I'm sure you know Mr. Banner, the Biology II teacher?" He nodded. "Okay, well, Edward and I have his class together, and we walked out the door after class was over and ran into Alice. She started saying that she could already tell that we were going to best friends or something. She was, like, really excited. Is she usually like that?" I asked getting sidetracked.

Dr. Cullen smiled in recognition. "Yes, actually. She's a very positive, perky person. But I'm sure that's not why you think you're hallucinating."

I returned his smile. "No. No, it isn't. Well right after that, she and Edward just kind of…looked at each other. Then Edward got a weird look on his face and they said they would see me later. So I was looking at them one second, then the next second I…wasn't. They were just…gone."

A range of emotions flitted across his face, while I replayed my incident for him. He looked skeptic, then surprised, then almost angry. But then he fixed his features into a confused frown. "Hmm…Well Bella, I don't think you have a tumor, but if it would make you feel better, I could check it out for you."

"Um, well, yeah, if it isn't too much trouble," I said with trepidation.

"Nonsense. That's what I'm here for." And once again, a smile graced his features. "I'm just going to give you a brief check up while we wait for the MRI tech people to get that set up," he said while simultaneously hitting a button on his pager. He then got out one of those flashlights that looks like a pen and stepped closer to me so as to examine my eyes. The hand that wasn't holding the flashlight, he placed on the right side of my face, so as to steady it. He was so close to me that I could feel his cool breath on my face. I could see into his eyes, but they weren't the color of his children's. Instead of an onyx black, they were a light topaz. I had never seen anything like them. I was very aware of the hand on my cheek. It took all of the self-control I had to not just close my eyes and let myself lean into it. Though it was very cold; it felt like he had stuck his hand into a tub of ice and left it there for a few minutes. He shifted the light from my right eye to my left.

Then the door opened and a nurse stepped in. "You paged me, Dr. Cullen?"

He clicked off the flashlight and turned to face the pretty blonde. "Yes, Jackie, can you let Richie know we'll be running an MRI in a few minutes?"

She glanced over to me and saw the close proximity of Dr. Cullen and I. She looked slightly jealous, but then looked back to Dr. Cullen her smile returned. "Of course, Dr. Cullen. Is there anything else I can do for you?" She was looking up at him through her lashes. I stifled a laugh as I realized she was trying to flirt with him. He didn't even seem to notice, which made it all the more comical.

"No that will be all, thank you." She left and closed the door a little harder than necessary, and Dr. Cullen proceeded with my examination. "Okay, follow my finger with just your eyes."He moved his index finger to the left, right, up, down. "Okay, now I want you to look straight ahead and tell me if you can see my fingers." He moved both his right and left index fingers to either side of my face, barely within my peripheral vision.

"Yes, I can see them," I said, not knowing what this had to do with the price of tea in China.

"Alright, that's good. If you hadn't been able to see them I might have been worried that you were right. A tumor often causes tunnel vision."

"Oh," I said in understanding. I filed this information away, so that if I ever got tunnel vision, I should get myself checked out. Again.

"That should be enough examination for now. I think we can head down to get your MRI."

I started to get off the chair, but started to stumble. In response, Dr. Cullen gave me a hand to steady myself. It was still cool; it hadn't gotten any warmer since he touched my face. But I didn't really care. All I could think about was my hand in his.

Finally getting my feet on the ground, I said, "Thanks. I'm definitely the clumsiest person you'll ever meet."

"Quite alright," he said with an amused smile, then regrettably, let go of my hand.

**Yeah, that seems like a lame place to end, but it was getting fairly long, at least for my standards. And if I would have continued writing, it would have been ridiculous. So, I hope you like the little Carlisle/Bella interaction. I hope it's okay. Review! Tell me what you think, what I did well, what could have been better. Also, if you think there is an event that you think should happen, something that happens in the book or something that doesn't happen in the book, tell me and if it's possible, I will try to work it in. Try being the operative word. **

**Aaand, I do not own **_**Grey's Anatomy **_**either. I'm not sure if that **_**exact **_**story happened in the show, but I figured something like it would have. There have been enough tumors in that show =] **

**Oh, and did you notice the significance of Nurse Jackie? XD Okay, enough of this extremely long A/N. REVIEW! ^_^ **


	5. Conundrum

**Thank you to Keeper of the Covenant for making me realize I should do this in Carlisle's POV! I was going to do it in Bella's at first, but I think it turned out a lot better this way. **

**Disclaimer: ****Twilight no puedo hacer propia. Je ne possède pas Twilight. Twilight non lo faccio proprio. Ich besitze kein Twilight. ****我沒有自己的曙光。****How many different languages do I have to say it for you to realize I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT?**

Carlisle was behind a glass window looking at Bella Swan. He knew she didn't have a tumor. She had seen exactly what she thought she had seen: two seemingly human siblings running away faster than was possible. But he decided to give her the check-up and MRI anyway. He told himself it was to avoid confrontation and more suspicion from Bella, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was because he wanted to spend more time with her. Carlisle didn't know what it was about this human girl almost 300 years younger than him, but something just drew him towards her. She was compelling; he'd never met anyone like her. She was smart too. Whereas most people would immediately consider themselves insane, and check themselves into a mental institution, Bella thought of a medical reason of why she might be seeing these things.

Bella was lying incredibly still, looking quite nervous. That tunnel tended to cause claustrophobia, even if you had never had it before. Fortunately, this process was nearly over, so she would be out soon.

Carlisle pushed the button that would allow Bella to hear him. "Bella, your doing just fine. We're going to take you out now and then you'll be done with the MRI." Then released the pressure on the button.

"So, why is she getting an MRI?" Richie, the technician running the machine, asked.

"She thought she saw something abnormal and immediately assumed it was a tumor," Carlisle replied with some amusement.

Richie laughed, "Must have been pretty epic for her to jump to that assumption. Her brain looks completely healthy."

"Well, she'll be glad to hear it. Print those off for me anyway, will you?"

"Will do, Boss."

Carlisle gave him a smile of thanks and headed out the door that led to the room Bella was in. She was now sliding out of the machine. When she was completely emerged, she tried to sit up but was held back by the straps around her body. She fell back to the table, frustrated.

"Oh, right. I have restraints," Bella said in annoyance.

Carlisle's gentle laughter filled the room. "I wouldn't think of them as restraints. More like precautions," he said while moving to remove the straps. He was standing directly above her, so close he could feel the heat radiating from her. He heard her breath catch, which caused him to smirk. A typical human response. Once she was free, she sat up, this time with success.

"Thanks," she said, slightly breathless.

"Of course."

"So, Doc, what's my diagnosis?" she sounded apprehensive; like she was afraid to hear the answer.

"No tumor. You're one hundred percent normal," she looked relieved.

"Oh, thank God. Thank you, Dr. Cullen," and then did something completely unexpected; she jumped off the table and hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. Carlisle was so taken off guard, it took him a few moments to return the hug. One hand was now on the small of her back while the other was between her shoulder blades, to where he could feel her long tresses. This seemingly innocent hug felt far too intimate than it should have.

Bella suddenly jumped back, as if realizing what she had just done, "Sorry," she said and then turned bright red.

"Don't worry about it, Bella," he said, not minding in the slightest that she had hugged him.

She gave a nervous smile, then seemed to realize something. "So, if there's nothing wrong with my brain, then what did I see at school?"

Carlisle hadn't thought about this. Thinking quickly, he made up something, "Well, sometimes when you go from one extremity to the other, like coming from a sunny place like Arizona while living with your mother, to living with your father in a rainy place like Forks, it can cause stress. Too much stress can cause your eyes to play tricks on you." Hopefully that was believable enough, Carlisle thought.

"Oh," she said looking down, embarrassed, "So I basically freaked out over nothing."

"It's completely normal," he reassured her. "It was good that you checked. I'm glad you came by." He was surprised by these last words. Why should he be glad that she came by?

Bella smiled timidly up at him. "Yeah, me too."

.::.::.::.::.::.

After Bella left, it was time for Carlisle to leave, as his shift was now over. He gathered up his briefcase and was nearly out the door when he heard Richie call out to him.

"Dr. Cullen!" he shouted, though he could have just whispered and Carlisle would have heard. He was running which made his abnormally long curls bounce when he took each step. It was actually quite comical. "Here are those prints of Miss Swan's MRI. I didn't know if you'd want them right now, but figured I'd catch you before you left, just in case."

"Thank you, Richie. Yes, I'll take them," Carlisle said glad that he had such a good staff.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow, Doc. Drive carefully," he said and turned to get back to work. Carlisle chuckled at his employee's words. _Drive carefully. _They just seemed so ironic.

Carlisle placed the prints in his briefcase and walked to his car at human speed, so as not to attract unwanted attention. He could never be too careful about who was watching, as he found out today by Edward and Alice's display in front of Bella. He was going to have to have a talk to them about this. Though he was not technically their father, sometimes the paternal instincts kicked in.

With the fairly short distance and the precision of his vampire instincts, it took no time at all for Carlisle to drive home. As soon as he did, he ran inside, vampire style, and found Edward and Alice waiting for him; they knew exactly when he would be home because of one of Alice's visions.

The caring expression that Carlisle usually wore was now replaced by one of anger and disapproval. "Would either of you like to explain to me when you decided concealing the identity of our race was no longer important?"

A look of surprise passed both of their faces, "How did you find out?" Alice asked in a quiet voice.

Carlisle pulled out the MRI prints and held them up in display, "Bella Swan came into the hospital today," he stared at them pointedly. "She thought she had a tumor because she saw you two running away. At vampire speed."

Alice seemed to brighten after this. "Bella came by?" she was smiling now. "Did you like her?"

Out of all the questions she could have asked, this was one that he had not expected. He decided to answer honestly though; there were no secrets with two psychics in the house. "She seemed like a very nice girl. But don't try to change the subject. Why did you two run away from Bella today?"

Edward and Alice exchanged a look of apprehension. It looked like Edward was reading Alice's mind. She was giving him a look as if to say _Tell him and I'll tear up that perfect face of yours. _She looked back at Carlisle and said, "I saw a vision. About Bella. And Edward read my mind and saw it too."

Then Edward cut in, "I had questions about it, so we just…ran outside. It was a stupid mistake that wasn't thought through. It won't happen again, Carlisle." They were telling the truth but were obviously keeping something from him. He decided to leave it there and let it go.

"Yes well you see that it doesn't," Carlisle scolded in his most fatherly tone.

There was an awkward silence and then, "So Bella thought she had a tumor?" Edward asked with a smirk.

Carlisle smiled at the question. "Yes she was convinced that was the only explanation until I told her that too much stress could cause hallucinations. But I gave her an MRI anyway just to ease her mind."

Then Edward seemed to remember something. "Speaking of her mind, I can't read it," he said with a confused frown on his face.

Both Alice and Carlisle looked at him shocked. Alice spoke first, "Really? You can't read it at all?"

"Not even a little bit," he answered.

"Has this ever happened before?" Carlisle asked.

"Never."

Carlisle started thinking of what this could possibly mean. "That's odd."

Edward scoffed. "Think about how I felt."

Maybe Bella's brain _wasn't _completely normal after all. He brought up the prints of her MRI to study for any abnormalities. And there it was. There was a thin, translucent circle around Bella's brain. It wouldn't even have been visible had it not been for Carlisle's keen sight. Of course Richie, or any other human for that matter, wouldn't have seen it at all, no matter how hard he looked.

Reading Carlisle's mind, Edward asked, "A transparent membrane? What does that mean?"

Carlisle looked up from studying the prints. "Nothing medically serious. Her brain is still completely healthy. But other than that, I have no idea."

**Okey dokey, there's your update. Sorry for the long waits, but I write as fast as I can. I won't be able to update for at LEAST another two weeks though because I am going to CAMP! YAY! Soo much fun. Root for Team Orange! …Okay…you don't have to. But you do have to review. =D**


	6. Phenomenon

**What's this? Two updates in one day? Believe me, it's a bigger surprise to me than to you. HAH!**

**Disclaimer: Nope I still don't own Twilight.**

84. That's how many tiles were on my ceiling. Sleep was not coming easy to me. And this time, the rain was not the culprit. I couldn't stop thinking of events from today like the Alice and Edward thing. Had my eyes really played tricks on me or was there something more to that story? I was still suspicious, though I wouldn't press the issue with them anymore, just in case it _was _all a hallucination. But then again, what was it that Edward had said? _We would love to explain, but now is really not the time or the place. _Didn't that imply that there was something going on, deeper than stress causing me to go crazy? Like Dr. Cullen said.

Dr. Cullen. Then that brought on a whole new train of thought. This caused more restlessness than any of my previous thoughts. He was gorgeous to say the least, but there was something more. It might have been just his bedside manor coming into play, but he was extremely compassionate. He didn't think I was insane for seeing something that quite possibly was not there. Of course, he was Edward's and Alice's adoptive father, known more than he was letting on.

Moments that had happened between us at the hospital kept replaying themselves in my mind: When I first saw him; when he placed his hand on my face; when he lent me his hand so I wouldn't fall off the table; the moment when he was hovering over me, releasing me from my restraints, so close that I could smell his wonderful scent; and then finally when I had thoughtlessly thrown my arms around his neck and he had actually hugged me back. I lingered on this thought longest of all. Where he placed his hands on my back, the skin there heated up, despite the cold temperature of his hands. I could have stayed like that for the rest of my life, but thankfully my senses had kicked in on time. But when I looked back at him, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was smiling. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

It was like all these thoughts were on a loop. Who knows how many times I replayed these memories? I don't even remember if I fell asleep at all. Thoughts and dreams might have just blended together. But I looked outside and dim light was shining through my window. Well, shining in the sense of when your grandpa points out a "shiny new dime" on the ground, and then you look at it and it's so old and not in the least bit shiny that the color makes it look more like a penny than a dime.

In any case, I knew it was my cue to get up.

.::.::.::.::.::.

It was all I could do to stay awake while I was driving to school. My eyes seemed like they weighed fifty pounds. Even with the three cups of coffee, I was still exhausted. I didn't know how I was going to stay awake the rest of the day. Hopefully the caffeine would kick in before first period started.

Miraculously, I made it to the parking lot without driving into a ditch. There were still ten minutes before I had to go to my first class. I got out of the cab of my truck and leaned against the door. Maybe the cold would wake me up a little.

Across the lot, I saw the Cullen family circled around Edward's Volvo. We were the only people outside. Everyone else had the sense to go into the nice warm building. The Cullens were all talking animatedly about something rather entertaining. Then Alice looked over at me and smiled while waving a tiny hand. I waved back, and then she got the strangest look on her face, like she was in a trance. While this was going on I heard the distinct squeal of tires on ice. I looked up to the source of the sound and saw a van swerving out of control because of the slick pavement. And it was headed straight towards me. I was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. Instinct told me that I should move out of the way, but my body was not responding. I knew that this was it; this was the way I was going to die. Death by van.

As soon as I thought this, I felt something crash into me hard, but it wasn't the van. I was pushed to the ground while I heard the sound of crunching metal, and the van stopped moving. A petite figure was hovering over me.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked me.

"Um, no. No, Alice, I am not okay," I said, panic evident in my voice. "I just almost got crushed by an out-of-control van and then watched you stop it in its tracks."

She gave me an anxious look. "Right. Well, we should move you away from the van."

"Before anyone notices you by the scene of the crime?" I accused? She ignored me and continued like I hadn't even said anything.

"We should get you to the hospital too. You hit your head pretty hard." Now that she mentioned it, I felt a pounding in the back of my head. "Bella, can you move?"

I flexed my muscles testing them and tried standing up. I made it, but Alice gave me her shoulder for support anyway. Although, with how short she was, it was quite awkward.

Edward was on his phone, calling an ambulance for the driver of the van most likely. I looked back and realized it was someone I actually knew: Tyler Crowley. He was unconscious. But I couldn't see any blood, thank God. Edward was walking towards Tyler now to make sure he was okay. I heard him tell the person on the other end of the phone call that Tyler still had a pulse. I hadn't even seen him check for a pulse. Why would he tell them that Tyler had a pulse if he didn't know yet?

Alice got me over to the Volvo. Jasper was standing next to me. I immediately felt calmness wash over me. Every worry that I had had just seconds before were gone. I could remember them, but somehow, I just didn't feel like they should concern me.

I heard Alice speak to her siblings. "Jazz, Emmett, Rose, you should get to class. I'm going to drive Bella to the hospital."

"I'm coming with you," I heard Edward say. "Actually, someone should stay with Tyler until the paramedics get here. Jazz do you mind?"

"Hey how come Jasper gets to be the one to skip class?" Emmett asked.

Edward answered, irritated. "I don't care who stays with him, but someone is going to have to explain what happened to the paramedics and the police department. Which is Charlie. Bella's father."

Emmett contemplated this then patted Jasper's back. "Good luck, sucka!" Then put his arm around Rosalie and walked to the school.

**Ooo, a twist, Alice saves Bella instead of Edward. Yeah, there is no particular reason for that except that I like Alice better than Edward, and it just makes more sense since it **_**was **_**Alice's vision. I think Edward just saved her in the book because it created more moments between them. Buuuut that is not the pairing in this story…**

**Okay, fo real now. This is all you get for another two weeks. I hope you liked it and it doesn't sound rushed. **

**By the way, I have this idea for another story, but I am stuck on a few points. It is a song-fic idea. Go check out my profile if you want to know more. I could really use your help. Thanks guys! I love you all. ^_^**


	7. Eavesdropping

**I know it's been a long time, so I'll put my excuses for the lack of updates at the end!**

"This is completely unnecessary. I can walk on my own," Bella protested as Edward carried her bridal style towards the hospital.

He looked skeptically down at her. Seconds later, the corner of his mouth twitched up into a mischievous smile. "Fine," he conceded and put her on her feet.

"Thank you." Bella took about two steps before she lost her balance and was back in Edward's arms again.

"That's what I thought," he smirked. Bella crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular.

They walked into the waiting room of the ER and were met by a pretty nurse with blonde hair.

"Oh, Miss Swan. Back again so soon?" she said with fake concern. Bella blushed in response.

Alice answered for her. "She hit her head pretty hard. We just want to make sure she doesn't have a concussion."

"Ok, well," she looked around as if looking for a reason not to deal with Bella, but the room was completely empty. Slow day apparently. "Just let me get a wheelchair, and I'll take her into be examined."

"I can just carry her there," Edward protested.

"Are you family?" she asked

"No," he replied.

"Then I'm afraid you can't go any further than this room."

He reluctantly placed her in the wheelchair, and he and Alice watched as she was wheeled away.

When the nurse was out of earshot, Alice asked Edward, "Was it just me or did she seem to really hate Bella?"

"Apparently, she walked in on Carlisle and Bella when he was giving her an examination. They were pretty close, and then she got jea—"

"What kind of an examination?" Alice interrupted, wagging her eyebrows.

Edward rolled his eyes. "He was only checking her eyes, Alice, calm down. Anyway, she saw me carrying Bella and now she just thinks that Bella is, in her thoughts, 'a Cullen slut.'"

Alice's jaw dropped, but then she just got a blank look on her face. A second later she was back in the present. "Oh shhh! Carlisle is gonna walk in her room in three seconds. What is he thinking?" Alice asked, impatiently bouncing up and down. She would liked to have asked the same about Bella, but seeing as Edward could not read her mind, it would be rather pointless.

"Do you wanna know that before or after he walks into the room?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow.

"After, after!" she replied, ignoring the sarcasm.

"I don't know if I should be invading his privacy, Alice," he teased.

"Oh just tell me."

.::.::.::.::.::.

Dr. Cullen finally walked into the very same room we were in just yesterday. I couldn't help but marvel at his flawlessness.

I figured I should say something. The first words that fell out of my mouth were, "Fancy seeing you here." What a idiotic thing to say.

He seemed to think it was funny though. "I have to agree. You know, we must stop meeting like this."

.::.::.::.::.::.

Edward laughed, genuinely amused.

"What?" Alice asked impatiently.

"He doesn't like to see her hurt, but he does like seeing her. He's mentally beating himself up for being so selfish."

.::.::.::.::.::.

The procedures he went through were much the same as the day before. He was once again extremely close to me as he shined the light in my eyes. I couldn't help but to take in his scent. It was the smell right after the rain stops. There was something else that I couldn't place, but whatever it was, it was intoxicating.

He turned off the light and watched my eyes for a second. The corners of his mouth turned down into a frown.

"What's wrong, Dr. Cullen?" I asked, now worried.

"First of all, anybody who sees me twice in one week calls me Carlisle," he said smiling. Of course I helplessly smiled back. "But it looks like Alice and Edward may have been right about the concussion. Your pupils aren't dilating. Are you feeling dizzy or tired?"

"Well, I got kind of dizzy walking in. I guess I'm a little tired, but that's just because I was up all night thinking about—" I caught myself as I realized what I was thinking about last night. "...stuff," I finished.

"Well, Bella, it looks like you will be getting your second MRI in two days. That may be a record for Forks," Carlisle informed me, with a smile. "I have to take care of something, but Jackie will take you down to get scanned. I'll see you there," he gave my arm a gentle squeeze and then left the room.

.::.::.::.::.::.

Both Alice and Edward chuckled at Carlisle telling Bella to call him by his first name. They sobered up a bit when they heard that she might actually have a concussion, but only laughed harder when they heard Bella finish her last sentence.

Edward was the first to speak, "Well you know what that means."

"Somebody was up all night thinking of a certain blonde doctor," Alice sang.

"Well he was certainly thinking about her," Edward said, apparently reading some unconscious thought in Carlisle's mind.

The two broke into another fit of giggles. They knew they were being immature, but they really didn't care. Carlisle was finally coming out of his funk, and that seemed reason enough for this kind of behavior. Edward's laughs suddenly stopped. He distinctly heard Carlisle's voice in his head.

_Edward, you and Alice are acting like children. Not only is it rude to be eavesdropping, it's illegal. Doctor/patient confidentiality. And I kindly ask you to stop rifling through my thoughts. _Though it seemed to Edward that his tone was not all that kind.

"Oh, sorry Carlisle," he said in a more serious tone.

_And my thoughts were solely for medical purposes. Don't go assuming absurdities. _Carlisle's thoughts seemed very defensive.

Alice looked at him, confused. "He asked us to stop eavesdropping."

Alice frowned in disappointment while she and her brother walked to sit in the chairs in the waiting room.

**Alright, I hope it's not disappointing after such a long wait. I have been really busy with my freshman year of college. And I don't know how busy any other majors are, but as a music major, there is hardly _ever _a free moment. I'm supposed to be practicing 4 hours _per day _for my private lessons only, so not including the music I have to practice for concerts; go to a ton of recitals/concerts; _perform _in concerts; all while doing my core classes, writing 8 page persuasive research papers and junk_. _It's insane. Also, my inspiration has been lacking. But I finally threw this together since it's almost the end of the semester and things have calmed down a little bit. But finals are in two weeks, so _hopefully _after that and SUMMER STARTS I will be able to update more regularly. **

**Ok, that is all. You can review now! =D**


	8. Author's Note

Guys I am really sorry. I hate it when people do this. It just gets your hopes up when you get the email that there's a new chapter and then it's just a stupid author's note. But it is necessary.

I am going to put this story on hiatus. I thought I would have more time this summer to keep up with it, but then I had to take summer classes. And I don't know if you've ever gone to college in the summer, but it is _killer. _Mostly because all the information is crammed into half the time of a regular semester. So anyway, I won't have a break between semesters. The stress is probably gonna kill me.

I'm not trying to make you pity me or anything. I just want you to understand why I have no motivation to write this anymore. I'm not saying I'll never finish it. It just won't be in the near future.

I might do an occasional one-shot sometimes just because those are a lot easier to deal with than keeping up with a multi-chapter fic. I might just give you the Bella/Carlisle scene that I wrote first that inspired this fic if you guys want it.

I'm really sorry to disappoint you guys. Your reviews have been great, and they made me smile every time I got a review, subscription, or favorite. Love you!


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